Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar will be the chief guest of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race 2018, which will be held at Punnamada, in Kerala, on August 11. Finance Minister Thomas Isaac confirmed about Tendulkar’s presence at a general body meeting of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race Committee, on Tuesday.

Thomas Isaac also informed that the Kerala government had allotted Rs 1 crore already for the grand event, and was also vying sponsorships for the same. The state government and the tourism ministry has already begun the preparation for the boat race season.

Earlier, the tourism department had called for an Indian Premier League (IPL) model based tournament for its traditional boat races this year. The Kerala Boat Race League (KBRL) will begin with Nehru Trophy Boat Race and see its culmination with President’s Trophy in Kollam, later this year.

Talking about the KBRL 2018, District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) Secretary M Malin informed that the league would organise 12 races. Also, the results of the races that take place during the Nehru Trophy Boat Race will be taken into consideration and act as qualification criteria. Over 20 snake-boats will be participating in the Nehru Trophy; however, only nine teams will be able to qualify for the forthcoming challenges.

Kerala is well known for its lovely houseboats and extravagant boat races. The boat racing season is here and with Champakulam Boat Race event scheduled to take place on June 28, the season is all set to begin. The preluding event to the Nehru Boat Trophy Race will take at Pamba, in Kerala. The widely popular game is also known as ‘MoolamVallamkali’.